China shows its soft side in Packham v pandas debate

A panda and her cub: is this photogenic species worth the cost of its survival? Photograph: Keren Su/Getty Images

"Abandon the pandas, Rescue the dogs." Judging by the headlines last week, it seems China is not only overtaking the UK as an economic superpower, it might also be becoming more cuddly and sentimental towards animals.

This will come as a shock to many Brits, who pride themselves on loving their four-legged friends a lot more than their two-legged neighbours. It may even raise a few eyebrows in China, where the educated urban middle classes are often embarrassed at compatriots who eat dogs, drink tiger-bone tonic, milk bile from bears and go fishing with explosives.

Consider, however, the biggest animal news stories in the two countries last week.

Notoriously pragmatic China, meanwhile, was showing signs of a soft spot. The top news stories were on the completion of the long-awaited draft of an animal welfare bill and, of course, a backlash at Packham's assertion that the Chinese national symbol was a lost cause.

Cuteness was an asset worth paying for, they said, especially for an "umbrella species" like the panda. Get the public to donate money and put pressure on the government to protect its habitat, and many other smaller, less-popular creatures in the same eco-system would benefit, the experts argued.

Animal rights have increasing support among the public and in the government, says Chang Jiwen, a law professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who drafted the new welfare bill.

He told me that polls by the two main news portals, Sohu and Sina, found more than 75% of people support the reclassification of animal abuse as a serious crime. His draft bill, influenced by Britain's RSPCA, promised to do this and offer rewards to informers. However, he says, it won't be passed for five to 10 years. China is not yet ready for really progressive measures.

One's week's headlines do not confirm a trend, and animal activism here is starting from a terrifyingly low base. Unfortunately, China is not catching up on conservation as quickly as it has in economic terms.

However, as hard as it is now to imagine an animal-loving China, traditions can change. The British bulldog, after all, was bred for baiting. The practice is now illegal – but we haven't abandoned the animal to its evolutionary cul-de-sac.

About this article

China shows its soft side in Packham v pandas debate

This article was published on
the Guardian website
at 09.20 EDT on Monday 28 September 2009.
It was last modified at 11.31 EDT on Wednesday 11 June 2014.
It was first published at 09.21 EDT on Monday 28 September 2009.